Hello everyone! It's no secret that the trust people have about schools, rightfully and wrongfully, has been harmed. Many of the relationships involved with well functioning schools are struggling. Some of this is caused by media hype, while others are rooted deeply in the culture wars occurring right now in and around education. In part one with Dr. Zac Bauermaster, we discussed how Zac leads with people in mind first. Even when things are hectic or struggling, he goes back to the people he serves. In this episode, we go deeper and discuss the complexities Covid, school board meetings, teacher burnout, and other factors have played into the damaging of trust in schools (from the inside out). Zac speaks honestly about the struggles schools face, and without blame, puts forth an outlook aimed at a better tomorrow. I really enjoyed this talk. I think you will too. This episode is sponsored by Heinemann—the leading publisher of professional books and resources for educators—and their professional book, Four Essential Studies: Beliefs and Practices to Reclaim Student Agency by Penny Kittle and Kelly Gallagher. Four Essential Studies is based on the belief that secondary students can only be prepared for life after high school when we purposefully shift the decision-making in our classrooms over to them. By reimagining how we teach essay, poetry, digital composition, and sustain talk in book clubs, we can ignite student curiosity, independence, and decision-making skills. Penny and Kelly share the strategies and activities they use in their own classrooms over the course of each unit, and show us what is possible when we expect more than compliance from our students. Learn more about how to transform students' relationship with literacy. Visit Heinemann.com to download a sample from Four Essential Studies.